Case study of liquefaction induced by the 1944 Massena, New York - Cornwall, Ontario earthquake
Despite surveying with ground-penetrating radar and trenching at four different locations, no earthquake induced sand dikes were observed at the site where three sand fissures were documented by Berkey following the 1944 Massena, New York-Cornwall, Ontario, earthquake. The site was found to be very disturbed by human activity, especially road building related to the construction of the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project. Sand diapirs and dewatering structures were observed in two of the trenches. These features may be related to incipient liquefaction but their origin is equivocal. The epicentral location of the 1944 earthquake probably occurred within 10 km of the site; therefore, the epicentral distance of this site of liquefaction is within the expected range even for western earthquakes of similar magnitude. A nearshore sandy facies of a glaciolacustrine deposit is thought to be the material that liquefied during the 1944 event. A geotechnical investigation that would have assessed the liquefaction potential of subsurface materials at the site was canceled due to downsizing at Ontario Hydro. Until a geotechnical investigation is conducted, additional trenching seems unwarranted. Poor cutbank exposures limited a search for liquefaction features in the Massena area.
- Research Organization:
- US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Engineering Technology; Columbia Univ., Palisades, NY (United States). Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 393342
- Report Number(s):
- NUREG/CR-6495; ON: TI97000699; TRN: 96:006190
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Sep 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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